ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080034
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
Super Bowl sold out of top-dollar ad time
NEW YORK - The price of admission to the Super Bowl football telecast keeps rising, but advertisers still line up early to buy their tickets.
Fox Broadcasting officials said Tuesday all 29 minutes of commercial time in Super Bowl XXXI, set for Jan. 26, have been sold out for several weeks.
This year's prices are believed to be the highest ever paid for television advertising time. The Super Bowl telecast typically attracts the year's biggest audience.
Jon Nesvig, president of sales, said Fox got as much as $1.3 million for a few 30-second ads in this year's Super Bowl, but the average amounted to about $1.2 million, surpassing what NBC got a year ago.
``The Super Bowl is a cultural phenomenon,'' Nesvig said. Advertisers seize the moment to showcase new advertising and introduce products.
- Associated Press
Chesapeake Bagel merger crumbles
WASHINGTON - A proposed merger of Chesapeake Bagel Bakery of McLean, Va., and BAB Holdings Inc. of Chicago, which owns the Big Apple Bagel chain, has fallen apart because BAB could not get financing, executives of both companies said Tuesday.
Analysts said the inability to finance the deal indicates there are holes in the theory that bagels might soon become as popular as burgers on the American fast-food landscape. Although bagel sales are soaring, industry experts say too many players are rushing to capitalize on the craze.
BAB executives confirmed Tuesday that they could not convince bankers that the company's $30 million bid to acquire Chesapeake was worth the dough.
The proposed merger would have created the nation's second-largest bagel chain. Chesapeake has 160 bagel outlets in 26 states, including franchise operations in the Roanoke Valley. Big Apple Bagels has 131 bagel restaurants in 26 states and Canada.
-The Washington Post
Viacom to shutter 50 Blockbusters
NEW YORK - Viacom Inc. plans to close about 50 underperforming Blockbuster Music stores this year and will take a $100 million pretax charge against fourth-quarter 1996 earnings.
The closures will not result in widespread job losses. Viacom said most of the full-time workers will be absorbed by other Blockbuster video and music stores.
Viacom did not specify which stores would be closed. The company operates a store in Roanoke County.
-Associated Press
Briefly
* The Domino's Pizza shop on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke has opened one of the company's first pizza buffets. The lunch and dinner buffet is part of a national experiment, said John Reed, marketing director for the Roanoke and Lynchburg Domino's franchise. Wallace Family Enterprises Inc., which holds the local franchise, operates four locations in Roanoke and two in Lynchburg.
* Acadia Polymers, Roanoke-based maker of polymer parts for vehicles, business machines and industrial uses, said it recently adopted the automotive industry's international quality standards, QS 9000, at its four plants and corporate offices dealing with automotive goods. Acadia, owned by the Jordan Co. of New York, supplies Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB